Posted on 08/26/24
| News Source: JPost
The White House insisted that negotiations for a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal were still ongoing as the latest Israel team returned from Cairo Monday night for consultations before heading back to Egypt later in the week.
“There continues to be progress, and our team on the ground continues to describe the talks as constructive,” US National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby told reporters in a virtual meeting.
He made the comment in the aftermath of a high-level US level summit in Cairo on Sunday that failed to produce a significant breakthrough in attempts to finalize a deal that would secure the lease of the 109 hostages in Gaza and end the 10-month war in that enclave.
A high-level Israeli team led by the Mossad and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) chiefs – David Barnea and Ronen Bar, respectively – with Maj.-Gen. (Res.) Alon Nitzan was in Cairo on Sunday, followed by a lower-level working group on Monday.
That group is made up of officials from the Mossad, the Shin Bet and the IDF left Cairo on Monday for consultations and to update their superiors in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.